Hatton to fight Saul Alvarez at 150lbs For WBC Title!!!

Matthew Hatton, that is.::

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-...ight-now-a-world-title-clash-115875-22929690/

MATTHEW Hatton has the chance to emulate his illustrious big brother Ricky after his showdown with Saul Alvarez was upgraded to a world title fight.

The WBC have confirmed that Hatton's clash with the unbeaten Alvarez in Anaheim, California, on March 5 will be for the WBC light-middleweight title vacated by Manny Pacquiao.

Hatton, 29, is stepping up from welterweight to face Alvarez and will be a massive underdog against the dangerous Mexican who has 25 stoppages from his 35 wins.

Hatton is excited to follow in the footsteps of his brother and two-weight world champion and challenge for the WBC crown.

"This is fantastic news," said the Mancunian. "Every kid that laces up gloves dreams of becoming world champion."

​

 

I assume this won't be a catchweight? Please tell me, it's not a catchweight.:scared2:

 

Yep, one-fiddy

 

Boxing is like a hot girlfriend that deserves a good slapping about.

 

Yes let them fight for a title in a non existent weight class.. Ah boxing........

 

Has Hatton even ever fought at Junior Middleweight before? WHAT'S GOING ON!? :scared:

 

I understand that it's kind of lame, but it's over the WW limit and they agreed to the weight, why should we care?

 

I hope Matthew Hatton has his pillow and sleeping bag ready in his corner for this one.

 

alvarez is obviously prepping for a pacquiao showdown by fighting at this catchweight

 

Matt should be asking his brother for some urgent advice on this one, because he is going to be put to sleep. Violently. Most likely in centre ring...

MTF

 

One side agreed because the other side is the one with the event promoter and network money...not to mention a sanctioning body.

Hatton's name was on a list of possible Alvarez opponents for this event, so the negotiating power was hardly spread out evenly.

And yeah, Hatton always has the right to refuse the fight...but then again, you offer a fighter a world title shot and some carrying around money, and a lot of them will take it.

I imagine if the rules of baseball allowed for it, you'd see the Yankees scheduling the Royals more often and playing them with 12 men on the field.

Hatton's the WBC's #5 at 147, Alvarez is the WBC's #1 at 154....although take a look at the weights he and his opponents have been fighting at:

Alvarez 149½ - Lovemore N'dou 149
Alvarez 150½ - Carlos Manuel Baldomir 153½
Alvarez 150¼ - Luciano Leonel Cuello 150¼
Alvarez 150 - Jose Miguel Cotto 149

Seems like someone's found their own little weight class.

Saul Alvarez isn't even a champion and he's already getting DLH/Pacquiao like weight classes.

I don't see a reason not to care.

 

Come on it won't be that boring.

 

White fighters have always gotten away with Murder.

 

Non-title fights at catchweights aren't really that unusual or indicative of someone being a prima donna. The WBC just happened to bump this one to a title fight.

Unfortunately for Alvarez (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Pac and Floyd Jr have both already checked the "154 lb titlist" box. Were that not the case, he'd probably get a fight with one of them after he beats Hatton.

 

I don't recall that many (serious) top prospects having this many catchweights in a row by the time they're being ranked as top contenders, which, btw, is another discussion....and again, this fight isn't a non-title so again, I don't recall that many instances quite like this one.

And as far as the WBC "just bumping this one"...yeah, they just bumped this one like they just bumped Alvarez to their #1 slot at 154, and bumped Chavez Jr. to the same slot at 160.

 

I can't think of any fighters off the top of my head, but I know it's pretty common. It used to be even more common than it is now - even champions would fight non-title fights at other weights (Duran did this often).

OK, so I picked a random boxer from the Mythical Matchup section, Gerald McClellan. In his fights leading up to the WBC title fight against Julian Jackson, he weighed in respectively at 162, 164, 168, 164. His opponents weighed in all over the place, as well. Guys aren't going to kill themselves to make weight if they don't have to.

Note that these aren't even really true "catchweights" because there's often no contractually obligated weight to be met.

I agree that is egregious, but what do you expect from the WBC? Canelo isn't bad, certainly better than Chavez.. but imo he's not really that good, either.

 

I understand there are a lot of catchweights, but as you say, there's usually some randomness in it...that he's been right around 150 for all of his recent fights suggests it's not random.

And that it's going to be at that weight for this title fight is troubling to me, because it may become a trend that continues with potential future Alvarez opponents that find their names on approved HBO lists.

Golden Boy's ever-aging list of bankable stars has gone down with Mosley leaving for a Pacquiao fight, and may be reduced again if Marquez leaves for a Pacquiao fight.

Given that they haven't exactly built up a lot of new stars from scratch, I think it's fair to say they have something invested in Alvarez's future.

If they're already flexing negotiating muscle in his first title fight, what makes you believe it'll end there?

As far as Alvarez as a boxer, I don't have anything against the kid. He's young, and already a star in Mexico. Personally, I would have rather seen him develop on the path he was going before signing with Golden Boy, who seem to be bringing him along with the same desperation they've shown with other prospects.

Check out their fighter page...it's subtle, but if you look hard, you can see Alvarez's name mentioned.::

http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/fighters/

 

you kind of kicked holes in your own argument with this post.

The WBC has sanctioned Alvarez' last four fights (including this one), all with some form of a junior middleweight belt at stake. All have taken place at a catchweight of 150 lb.

The fights you mentioned are all non-title fights. Usually fighters fight a few pounds above their weight class in preparation of dropping back down to proper weight come title fight time.

This fight would make a lot more sense as a welterweight title fight, since that's where both primarily fight. That it's taking place at 150 and being sanctioned as a junior middleweight title fight - yeah, I'm with Mitchell in not understanding how people don't see this as an issue or worse, try to justify it.

 

Ha, that's pretty funny. He's singlehandedly replaced their old Mount Rushmore banner.

I like how they not only still have Vazquez listed on their roster, but that they have his name spelled wrong.

 

Beyond disgusting.

 

I don't see anything particularly special in alvarez, I just think Hatton aint that good and alvarez's style will be effective against him.
I think it will be quite entertaining, but most probably one sided. Hatton will have some success rounds 1-4, but from rounds 5 (if it goes that distance and Hatton isn't laid out on the canvas) alvarez will be in the driving seat and I think the fight won't go more than 7/8 rounds.

It could very well see Hatton show a good chin and survive the distance, but a comfortable UD in favor of alvarez.

 

Alvarez is going to beat the flour out of Matthew. If he can't, he should quit boxing.

As for all of this rage about the weight- this shit has been going on for years at 147. Sorry, I meant 145. Or is it 146? I've lost track.

 

All-Star Boxing seeking an injunction to prevent this fight:

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=36232

 

Golden boy back to it's roots signing up signed fighters.

 

Is this fight in serious danger?

 

I hope not- I've been looking forward to seeing Matthew Hatton take a sustained beating for years...

MTF

 

That's a good point, but does the WBC Interim Silver Junior Americas belt or whatever they fought for really qualify as a "title?" According to boxrec Baldomir came in at 153.5 for their fight anyway - doesn't look like a catchweight fight to me. But if any of those fights were title fights with agreed upon catchweights, then yes, I agree that is stupid. I dislike catchweights in title fights as a rule, and it's especially ridiculous at this stage of Alvarez's career.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/news/story?id=5585584

 

...or for a few rounds, at least.

 

yup - and the fucked up thing is that while Baldomir was fined for being over the contracted limit, he was actually UNDER the junior middleweight limit, since the WBC put some bullshit title on the line.

I still don't get how that's legal. A catchweight fight should be just that. A title at stake, weigh in at the fuckin' limit. It's always been my argument, but I'll repeat it - you can't bitch about their being too many weight classes, and yet look the other way when catchweight title fights keep surfacing. It's absurd. 17 weight divisions - pick one and get on with it.